Effectively Introducing Mobile Solutions in Hospitals: The Importance of Process Perspective and KPIs

Abstract

ICT enables improvement of healthcare processes, by increasing quality while simultaneously reducing costs. Among the different ICT-based solutions, mobile health is achieving an increasing importance: despite all potential benefits of mobile technologies, little attention has been put so far in their application within hospitals. As a result, any mobile solution introduction tends to not take into account organizational implications, with the result of limited or ineffective adoptions. Drawing on the experience of four successful implementations of mobile solutions in three Italian hospitals, this paper emphasizes the importance of two design factors: (i) the adoption of a process perspective, (ii) the continuous monitoring of a pre-determined sets of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Theoretical and managerial implications are proposed and discussed.